My daughter is ready to jump into the EV world. Located in CA. (gas has hit almost $7/g here )
What EVs are leasing/financing best? Daughter has ability to put significant $ down if needed towards a finance, only minimums towards a lease.
We are Considering:
Chevy Bolt/Equinox
Ford Mach E
VW ID4
Kia EV6
ID4 is at the top of her favorite list. We have one and she loves our car..she currently drives a jetta and her lease ends in June. She needs something small(er) and under $450/mo. She commutes to work/school 35 miles away. We are costco executive members. Willing to consider a one-pay situation too.
Not considering honda or toyota. We live in a smallish town and don’t have a ton of dealers here (for warranty purposes)
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There are a couple dealers in CO right now with a ton of Ioniq 5 stock and there is a CO-only $7k incentive available. I’m looking into getting an AWD Limited shipped to me in GA for right around $500/mo effective (inclusive of a $1200 shipping estimate) for a 24/10 lease. Gonna see if I can get it down a little more, and I’m assuming lower trims are available for (much) less.
I’ve loved my 2024 Ioniq 5 SEL for the past 2 years and want to upgrade to the Limited trim. I know there are issues with the Hyundai/Kia/Genesis eGMP platform (google ICCU issues for more info), but that does not deter me. That said, it would suck for your daughter to get stranded and then have to wait weeks for a fix…
I test drove the iD.4 back in 2024 and was ready to get one before test driving the HI5, which I just thought felt better. Not sure about current prices on the iD.4.
I believe the Equinox is leasing well these days–I briefly considered the Blazer (and the Cadillac Lyric and Honda Prologue, which are the same platform)–and people seem to like those. Check out the Cadillac Optiq as well, as it is also the same platform.
Don’t know anything about the new Bolt (saw some good reviews), and I think the Mach-E is a little pricier these days, but people like it as well.
I’m a big fan of Cadillac. I recently got a Vistiq and am thinking about getting a Lyriq as a #2 after driving one for a few weeks as a loaner. Would highly recommend the Lyriq or the Optiq (a little smaller). Lyriq feels high quality, drives great, and has tons of room behind the second row. Plus you get Cadillac service if you have a dealer near you.
Numbers may be slightly different because CA but check out Bacon’s Car Concierge in the marketplace. Optiq as low as $350/month and Lyriq as low as $409 with zero effort if you have conquest and the private offer. Expect a smidge more than these numbers since I think private offer is over, but that was only $500. Even if they can’t do CA, you can use those numbers to negotiate or look at other brokers. I don’t have any experience with these guys but I find Cadillac brokers hard to search here and this one came up.
LuxConcierge might restock soon and is Socal based.
Honda Prologue is being discontinued but runs on the same GM Ultium platform. There are probably some deals to be had if you don’t mind a discontinued product. They just dropped the MSRP $7500 for April and there is a $5k captive lease offer along with $2k conquest (and $2k loyalty if you happen to have a Honda).
I test drove the Lyriq and it was pretty nice. It felt a little big (it’s like a foot longer than my Ioniq), but was super roomy inside. Also very plush feeling. I would’ve liked to have spent more time exploring the features and drive modes, but you know how test drives go… if you don’t need the extra space, I hear the Optiq is almost as big, but drives smaller and can be better equipped in the lower trims, so it nets out a bit cheaper. Of course with the GM platform, only the Lyriq and Prologue have CarPlay if that’s important to you…
Remove the VW from the list. 35 mile commute is tough. Would be even more than a 24/15k lease. Maybe she can take over a lease here with a lot of unused miles.
The lack of CarPlay in the Vistiq scared me at first but honestly I prefer the built-in apps now that I’ve had the car for a while. Wireless CarPlay sometimes has a barely perceptible lag and the audio quality is better with the built-in apps. Not that it matters if you go Lyriq (since it retains CarPlay), but for anyone else hesitant to go GM I wasn’t a believer until I tried going without it and now I don’t think I’d go back.
Dodge Hornet PHEV is hard to beat, if you’re looking for the lowest TCO, and gives you an option of electric or gas. I would take it over the ID4, Bolt and Equinox. The Mach-E and EV6 are probably a bit nicer, but also double the price. The PHEV is also easier on the insurance.
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